It is with great sadness that we announce the death on 17 August 2018 of Professor Jean Kovalevsky, an honorary member of the CIPM. He was 89 years old.

Jean Kovalevsky was a world-renowned specialist in celestial mechanics and astrometry. He was Emeritus Astronomer at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, and also spent much of his working life at the Observatoire de Paris. He was a member of the Bureau des Longitudes from 1968 and of the Académie des Sciences from 1988. He was Director of the Centre d'études et de recherches géodynamiques et astronomiques (CERGA, 1974-1982 and 1988-1992), President of the Bureau national de métrologie (1995-2004), and President of the Société astronomique de France (1970-1973).

Jean Kovalevsky was elected to the CIPM on 22 November 1984. He was President of the Consultative Committee for the Definition of the Seconde (CCDS, now CCTF) from 1984 to 1997, and was Secretary of the CIPM from 1990 to 1996 then CIPM President from 1997 to 2004.